Cleveland Browns fans commiserate winless season with a parade of protest

As the NFL playoffs prepared to kickoff on Saturday in Kansas City and Los Angeles, a few thousands fans gathered on the shores of a frozen Lake Erie in Cleveland, Ohio to toast a different milestone altogether: a winless season by the Cleveland Browns.

Despite single-digit temperatures and wind chills well below zero, around 3,000 fans wound up lining the street that encircles First Energy Stadium where the Browns play football and where the Browns have only won three times in the last three seasons.

The cold didn't dampen spirits at the parade, which was more a tongue-in-cheek protest of team management than a celebration. Many of the signs took aim at owner Jimmy Haslam, whose stature in Cleveland is just barely above that of former owner Art Modell — who infamously moved the team to Baltimore in 1995.

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Cleveland Browns host winless season parade

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Cleveland Browns host winless season parade

Fans turned out in droves to "celebrate" the team's winless season on Saturday.

(Photo by Marcus Gilmer/Mashable)

Fans turned out in droves to "celebrate" the team's winless season on Saturday.

(Photo by Marcus Gilmer/Mashable)

Fans turned out in droves to "celebrate" the team's winless season on Saturday.

(Photo by Marcus Gilmer/Mashable)

Fans turned out in droves to "celebrate" the team's winless season on Saturday.

(Photo by Marcus Gilmer/Mashable)

Fans turned out in droves to "celebrate" the team's winless season on Saturday.

(Photo by Marcus Gilmer/Mashable)

Fans turned out in droves to "celebrate" the team's winless season on Saturday.

(Photo by Marcus Gilmer/Mashable)

Fans turned out in droves to "celebrate" the team's winless season on Saturday.

(Photo by Marcus Gilmer/Mashable)

Fans turned out in droves to "celebrate" the team's winless season on Saturday.

(Photo by Marcus Gilmer/Mashable)

Fans turned out in droves to "celebrate" the team's winless season on Saturday.

It's understandable the players would feel this way, especially given the team's 4-44 record over the past three seasons and the ignominy of being only the second NFL team to ever go 0-16 (the 2008 Detroit Lions were the first). It's like rubbing salt in the wound.

But the parade wasn't meant to laugh at the players. It was — and this was clearly evident on Saturday — a catharsis for a city that's endured unending frustration with a team that's used over two dozen different quarterbacks since the franchise was brought back as an expansion team in 1999, including the infamous drafting of Johnny Manziel (who himself mocked the Browns, despite being pretty bad during his short stint with the team).

Since returning in 1999, the Browns have had two winning seasons (9-7 in 2002, 10-6 in 2007) and only one playoff game appearance (a Wild Card loss in 2002), while the team has gone 19-70 since Haslam became the owner in 2012.

It's also a team that's on its ninth coach since 1999 and has chosen to keep its current coach, Hue Jackson, who boasts a 1-31 record in his two seasons on the sideline.

I'm biased. Full disclosure, I'm not a full-on Browns fan (go Saints!) but I live here, married into a family of Cleveland natives and long-time devoted (and frustrated) Cleveland sports fans. I know from personal experience that Cleveland is far better than its "Mistake By The Lake" moniker and the ongoing jokes about the Cuyahoga River catching on fire.

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The best signs dragging the Cleveland Browns

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The best signs dragging the Cleveland Browns

PITTSBURGH, PA - DECEMBER 31, 2017: A sign hangs over a railing in the fourth quarter of a game on December 31, 2017 between the Cleveland Browns Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh won 28-24. (Photo by: 2017 Nick Cammett/Diamond Images/Getty Images)

PITTSBURGH, PA - DECEMBER 31, 2017: A fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers holds up a sign in the second quarter of a game on December 31, 2017 against the Cleveland Browns at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh won 28-24. (Photo by: 2017 Nick Cammett/Diamond Images/Getty Images)

PITTSBURGH, PA - DECEMBER 31, 2017: A fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers holds up a sign in the fourth quarter of a game on December 31, 2017 against the Cleveland Browns at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh won 28-24. (Photo by: 2017 Nick Cammett/Diamond Images/Getty Images)

PITTSBURGH, PA - DECEMBER 31, 2017: A fan of the Detroit Lions holds up a sign in the fourth quarter of a game on December 31, 2017 between the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh won 28-24. (Photo by: 2017 Nick Cammett/Diamond Images/Getty Images)

CHICAGO, IL - DECEMBER 24: Fans are seen holding a sign during the game between the Chicago Bears and the Cleveland Browns on December 24, 2017 at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

CLEVELAND, OH - DECEMBER 17, 2017: A fan of the Cleveland Browns holds up a sign in the fourth quarter of a game on December 17, 2017 against the Baltimore Ravens at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio. Baltimore won 27-10. (Photo by: 2017 Nick Cammett/Diamond Images/Getty Images)

CLEVELAND, OH - DECEMBER 17, 2017: A fan of the Cleveland Browns holds up a sign prior to a game on December 17, 2017 against the Baltimore Ravens at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio. Baltimore won 27-10. (Photo by: 2017 Nick Cammett/Diamond Images/Getty Images)

CLEVELAND, OH - DECEMBER 17, 2017: Fans of the Cleveland Browns hold up signs prior to a game on December 17, 2017 against the Baltimore Ravens at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio. Baltimore won 27-10. (Photo by: 2017 Nick Cammett/Diamond Images/Getty Images)

CARSON, CA - DECEMBER 03: A Browns fan holds up a sign that reads, 'It's my birthday. All I want is a Browns win!!' during an NFL game between the Cleveland Browns and the Los Angeles Chargers on December 03, 2017 at StubHub Center in Carson, CA. (Photo by Chris Williams/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

DETROIT, MI - NOVEMBER 12, 2017: A Cleveland Browns fan holds up a sign in the fourth quarter of a game on November 12, 2017 against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. Detroit won 38-24. (Photo by: 2017 Nick Cammett/Diamond Images/Getty Images)

CLEVELAND, OH - OCTOBER 22, 2017: Cleveland Browns fans hold up a sign prior to a game on October 22, 2017 against the Tennessee Titans at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio. Tennessee won 12-9 in overtime. (Photo by: 2017 Nick Cammett/Diamond Images/Getty Images)

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And in sports, it's a winner, too. LeBron James has made the Cleveland Cavaliers perennial NBA contenders and, in 2016, champions. The Cleveland Indians (terrible Chief Wahoo logo aside) have made the MLB playoffs three of the last five seasons, including the dramatic 2016 World Series against the Cubs. And don't overlook the Lake Erie Monsters of the American Hockey League, winners of the 2015-16 Calder Cup.

Yet, the Browns continue to be the punchline that brings the city down. It's why there's so much pent-up frustration. Cleveland is, at its heart, a football town with a bad team being driven into the ground by bad management.

You have no idea to the depths of frustrations that city has endured. Don't get this confused. You're in the entertaiment business. You're just a # on a jersey. When y'all win, fans will be there, just as they have been for years of losing. https://t.co/3v2xPUDvPF

The parade was the idea of Columbus-based fan Chris McNeil, whose Twitter account, @Reflog_18, has a huge following thanks, in part, to brilliant tweets like trolling pro-Trump Twitter users (including a fake GOP account that turned out to be a Russian bot) into thinking a photo of the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers NBA championship parade was the crowd at a Trump rally in Arizona.

As the Browns barreled towards an 0-16 record in 2016, McNeil came up with the idea of the parade which was derailed when the Browns pulled off a Christmas Eve miracle victory over the San Diego Chargers. Despite a 1-15 record, there would be no winless parade.

Until the Browns managed to do worse this year, failing to win a single game. And the parade was on again.

And McNeil gets that frustration, the idea that no NFL team should be this bad, that no NFL team should seem to hit rock bottom and only get worse.

It was a feeling that held true on Saturday. Besides one sign making fun of beleaguered rookie quarterback DeShone Kizer, I didn't see any other signs mocking players. But I did see a lot of signs directed at Haslam who isn't exactly known for his smooth business dealings.

It's worth mentioning, too, that the parade has raised thousands of dollars for the Cleveland Food Bank, proof that, at its core, this parade isn't something nefarious for the city.

As frustrated as the players must feel, imagine being a years-long season-ticket holder who continues to pour money into supporting a team whose management shows no apparent effort to be, well, worth that support.

The fans and the city deserve better. Yesterday's parade wasn't one of celebration but one of commiserating. These are dark times and if we only find misery in the distractions, well, then something's gotta give eventually.

McNeil, after all, is a fan who has said before that he wants the Browns to succeed, not to be a joke; he recently told ESPN, "The last thing I want to do is embarrass the city... We just want to see the Browns win."